Eminian: Chiefs tandem catching on behind plate

PEORIA -- The St. Louis Cardinals are committed to converting highly-touted prospect Carson Kelly to catcher this season, after he played third base last season.

But they also want to find out if Steve Bean can play, so the position has been a 50-50 time share so far with the Peoria Chiefs in 2014.

Bean is a Supplemental Draft first-rounder from 2012, while Kelly was a 2012 second-rounder.

Bean is hitting .154 with a .421 OPS. Kelly hit his first homer Saturday, and has a .296 batting average and .906 OPS.

Both are a work in progress behind the plate, where Kelly has thrown out 4 of 13 baserunners attempting to steal, while Bean is 2 of 11.

Peoria's combined catching total -- 6 of 24 -- is 12th in the 16-team MWL.

UN-BALIVA-BLE: Dayton checked in for the home opener at Dozer Park with former Chiefs broadcaster Tom Nichols handling the calls for the Dragons.

Was surprised to see him still around, and wondered where Chiefs veteran broadcaster Nathan Baliva stacks up in terms of years with the same team.

Baliva is in his 11th season with the Chiefs. As it turns out, that is second among all Class A ball broadcasters, and 22nd on the list of 168 minor-league broadcasters overall (not counting rookie leagues).

Only Chris Mehring (Wisconsin, 2000) has been with a team at the Class A level longer than Baliva.

"I've been blessed with a great situation here with the Vonachen family and some outstanding front office members and fans over the years," Baliva said. "Being with the Chiefs is like a second family, and I've also received tremendous support from the Cardinals and Cubs during my tenure.

"My goal has been and still is to be a Major League broadcaster -- and I will be -- but I enjoy being here and there's no point in leaving just to leave."

Here's the longevity list, with the broadcaster's name, minor league team, MLB affiliate and the year he started with his team:

* Howard Kellman (AAA Indianapolis/Pittsburgh) 1974.

* Jim Weber (AAA Toledo/Detroit) 1975.

* Jim Clark (AA Akron/Cleveland) 1989.

* Deene Ehlis (AAA Iowa/Cubs) 1990.

* Dan Karcher (AAA Colorado Springs/Colorado 1990.

* Bob Hards (AA Midland/Oakland) 1992.

* Curt Bloom (AA Birmingham/White Sox) 1993.

* Steve Klauke (AAA Salt Lake/Angels) 1994.

* Sean McCall (High-A Lake Elsinore/Padres) 1996.

* Matt Swierad (AAA Charlotte/White Sox) 1998.

* Jeff Dooley (AA New Britain/Twins) 1998.

* Mike Curto (AAA Tacoma/Seattle) 1998.

* Pat Dillon (Short Season Everett/Seattle) 1998.

* Mike Capps (AAA Round Rock/Texas) 2000.

* Chris Mehring (A Wisconsin/Milwaukee) 2000.

* Russ Langer (AAA Las Vegas/Mets) 2000.

* Mark Nasser (AAA Omaha/Royals) 2001.

Page 2 of 3 - * Phil Elson (AA Arkansas/Angels) 2001.

* Johnny Doskow (AAA Sacramento/Oakland) 2001.

* Tim Grubbs (AAA New Orleans/Miami) 2002.

* Steve Shelby (AAA Memphis/St. Louis) 2002.

* Nathan Baliva (A Peoria/Cardinals), 2002.

"With the changes in the industry I've been able to follow along via online streaming and using Tune-In Radio to a lot of the broadcasters on this list, especially Deene Ehlis in Iowa, Curt Bloom in Birmingham and Mike Curto in Tacoma," Baliva said. "And of course Chris Mehring in Wisconsin is one of my closest friends in the industry. I like to think I learn something every time I listen to them and continue to get better my craft and career."

PITCHING IN: Chiefs lefty starter Jimmy Reed bounced back for a quality start in Thursday's 4-0 loss to Dayton, after a first inning in which he tossed 26 pitches and faced eight hitters.

When the Cubs operated as Peoria's major league parent, there was a rule within the organization that required its managers to pull a pitcher if he reached 35 pitches in one inning.

Do the Cardinals have a number?

Chiefs manager Joe Kruzel didn't want to say if the Cardinals had a blanket number like that. More likely, it's nothing etched in stone, more dependent on an individual pitcher's body type, how stressful his delivery is and other factors.

"He (Reed) wasn't close to reaching a number where he had to come out (in the first inning)," Kruzel said.

CHIEFLY SPEAKING: Chiefs outfielder Ronald Castillo, on his 420-foot home run Friday that put Peoria ahead of Bowling Green for good in a 6-5 win at Dozer Park:

"That felt good, to help the team win, helped us get some momentum going in the game. I was sitting on a changeup, and I got one."

CHIEFS BRIEFS: Have a question you want to ask a Chiefs player or manager Joe Kruzel? Send it to me on my Twitter feed or via my email, and once a week we'll run a story with the answers. ... Bowling Green second baseman Kean Wong, younger brother of Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong, headed into Saturday's action fourth in the Midwest League batting race with a .375 average. ... The Chiefs batting average leader, Mike Schulze, is 22nd in the league at .333. ... Really liked the at-bat outfielder Matt Young had in the ninth inning of Thursday's game against Dayton. Peoria trailed 4-0, and Young, a pull hitter, faced a shift from Dayton. He responded with an unselfish, smart at-bat, punching a single through the vacant second base spot. ... Check out TheCardinalNation.com, an excellent site operated by Brian Walton, who travels around the minors gathering his info. He was at Dozer on Wednesday and Thursday. ... The Chiefs 11-run outing Saturday marked the most runs produced by Peoria in 87 games, since an 11-5 win over Wisconsin on May 31, 2013.

Page 3 of 3 - Dave Eminian covers the Chiefs and Rivermen for the Journal Star. Reach him at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Check out his sports blog, Cleve's World and follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.